Houston

Now, when ABC O&Os tell viewers to “wake up with us,” they won’t necessarily be referring to watching their morning newscasts.

ABC is now rolling out an iPhone alarm clock app for its station group, beginning today with KTRK in Houston.  In addition to serving as an alarm clock, the free app features local weather and news, and also offers users the ability to wake up to the voice of their favorite local news personality.

Viewers in Houston can now wake up to the voices of KTRK’s morning team, including Tom Koch, Sharron Melton, Casey Curry, Don Nelson, as well as the station’s breaking news music. Read more

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Longtime KTRK anchor Dave Ward, who was out for more than a month earlier this year after breaking his hip in a fall minutes before a newscast, has a bold prediction: “They’ll probably carry me out of here feet first.”

“KTRK-TV is like my home, I’ve been here so long,” Ward told TVNewsCheck recently. “I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t come into work every day. I still feel like I contribute to the newscast and they seem to want me here.”

Ward joined KTRK in 1966 and has been anchoring the station’s 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts since 1968. Read more

Stephen Dean, an investigative reporter at KPRC in Houston, will join WSYX in Columbus, according to media reporter Mike McGuff.

Dean joined the Houston NBC-affiliate in 2001. He is an Ohio native that started his career in Columbus radio, eventually joining WCMH as a reporter in 1993.

“I am thrilled to be going home to be doing the exact kind of investigative reporting that I love doing so much in Houston,” Dean told McGuff. “It is the perfect chance to go home.”

Gary Striewski is joining KPRC, the NBC-affiliate in Houston, according to media blogger Mike McGuff.

Since 2010, Striewski has been sports director at KGWN, the CBS-affiliate in Cheyenne. Prior to that, he was a general assignment reporter at Longmont Cable Access.

Striewski will reportedly transition from sports to news as he joins KPRC as a multimedia reporter.

Crystal Kobza has joined KTRK, the ABC O&O in Houston, media blogger Mike McGuff reports.

Kobza joins KTRK from KOB, the NBC-affiliate in Albuquerque, where she co-anchored the morning newscast. She has also worked at KETK in Tyler, TX and KMSS in Shreveport, according to McGuff.

Kobza’s will be a general assignment reporter for the station. Her first day on the air was last week.

Sensing that the image would inevitably go viral, Houston NBC-affiliate KPRC recently posted a screenshot on its Facebook page of a man who appears to be taking a leak in the station’s weather garden, feet behind chief meteorologist Frank Billingsley.

“Since this will go viral any way, we might as well let you know it’s not what you think,” KPRC wrote on its Facebook page, posting the above photo. “That guy is an electrical contractor stringing wires in our weather garden. In case you’re wondering, yep, we’re mortified and laughing at the same time and we picked this frame specifically because Frank’s pose is just the cherry on top of it all.” Read more

Houston NBC-affiliate KHOU is adding reporter Tim Wetzel to its news team. His first day will be Monday, according to Houston media blogger Mike McGuff.

Wetzel was most recently a reporter at WTVF in Nashville. He replaces Lisa Chavarria, who is headed to WFLD in Chicago. Chavarria also joined KHOU from WTVF in 2010.

“I’m very excited to join the KHOU team and look forward to working at such a great station,” Wetzel told McGuff.

Phillip Mena is leaving KTSM, the NBC-affiliate  in El Paso, to join KPRC, the NBC-affiliate in Houston.

“It took longer than expected to make the announcement but starting April 23rd, I will be the weekend anchor at KPRC,” Mena wrote on Facebook.

Mena has worked as an anchor and reporter at KTSM since 2010. His last day in El Paso was Friday.

“While I’m saddened to leave my hometown of El Paso, I’m excited about living in Houston and working for such a storied station at KPRC,” Mena told Houston media blogger Mike McGuff. “I look forward to becoming very involved in the Houston community and telling its stories.

Scott Noll will join Houston CBS-affiliate KHOU as an investivative reporter next week.

“For years I’ve followed the great investigative work being done in Houston,” Noll told Houston media blogger Mike McGuff. “I’m looking forward to continuing that tradition and joining a team of top-notch journalists at KHOU 11 News.”

Noll has spent the past four years at WREG, the CBS-affiliate in Memphis. He begins at KHOU on April 16.

KVUE‘s Andrew Horansky will move to Houston for a reporting job at KHOU later this month.

Horansky, who joined Austin’s KVUE in 2010, wanted to move to Houston to be near his fiancee, according to Austin media reporter Bill Church. Horansky said KVUE news director Frank Volpicella helped him find the open position at KHOU. Both stations are owned by Belo.

“The business is so competitive and just because I worked for Belo and had a solid resume didn’t guarantee me anything,” Horansky told Church. “I interviewed with KHOU’s news director and won the job, so it all worked out.” Read more